“We’re with Wayne Laboratories. We’re working with Professor Lance Weston—I believe you know him?” the man who had climbed out last said.
Instinct took over and Rachel turned on her heel and ran as fast as she could toward the woods. Footsteps followed her, that and laughter, but that laughter was drowned out by a scream in the next instant when a loud growl made them all stop and turn. Rachel’s voice joined that scream as the large wolf took down the first of the three men, standing on his chest and closing his jaws over the jugular of the terrified man on the ground.
Shots rang out and Rachel jumped onto the back of the man closest to her who held the gun. His first shot missed and he hadn’t even shoved her off before getting another shot off. The other man had his gun out and fired at the wolf who fell backwards onto the ground with the whine of a wounded dog.
“No!” she screamed, trying to get up when the man stalked slowly toward Marcus and shot another bullet into him. Marcus’s body twitched and Rachel screamed.
“We need the anti-shift drug. I want him alive.”
“Marcus!” Rachel called out, finally getting to her feet and running to him. But she was caught before she made it and she struggled in her captor’s arms, watching Marcus lie helpless on the ground.
The man who had shot him walked closer to him and nudged him with the toe of his shoe. “Two shots couldn’t have killed him,” he said, shoving his foot into Marcus’ ribs.
“Marcus?” Rachel called more quietly this time when the beast didn’t move or make a sound.
“Fuck,” the man said, squatting down next to the animal.
Just as he did, Marcus sprung up and pounced on him. The man’s scream filled the still morning air. Blood splattered from him and his body went limp almost instantly. The man who held Rachel dropped her and ran. She fell to the ground and watched as Marcus ran after him, easily taking him down, killing him as quickly as he had the other two.
“Marcus?” Rachel asked, her voice tentative as she backed up to lean against the car, blood all around her, the bodies of the three dead men too close. Marcus glanced at her briefly before walking to the other side of the car and returning a few moments later—naked, his face, chest, arms, and hands bloodied.
“Rachel?” he asked, squatting down beside her.
That was when she realized she wasn’t even crying. Not a single tear had fallen until just now, until this moment when the reality of what could have happened dawned on her. She reached out a hand to touch his face, smearing some of the blood on her trembling fingers.
“Are you all right?” he asked, just looking at her.
She nodded, unable to speak.
He pulled her to her feet and walked her inside. “Don’t look,” he said when she turned her head to see one of the mutilated bodies.
This was the second time seeing him in wolf form and she had seen him and Elijah in action at Lance’s house. Before that, before the kidnapping, she had seen him and the entire pack like this. That didn’t frighten her. It was the killing that had done it. Seeing him fight Lance was one thing and that was terrible enough. But today, what she witnessed took everything to another level, one where life and death hung on the line.
She turned to touch Marcus’ hand but paused at the blood. He registered her hesitance.
“Go inside and get in the shower. Get yourself cleaned up,” he said.
She looked down at herself. “Oh my God!” she exclaimed, seeing the blood that had splattered onto her clothes, her shoes.
“Shh, it’s okay,” he said, taking hold of her arms and holding her firmly, forcing her to look at him. “You’re okay. They can’t hurt you anymore. Rachel, look at me,” he said when her eyes wandered to the bodies.
She turned slowly to meet his gaze.
“I want you to go inside and have a shower. Throw your clothes away. I’m going to clean up out here and I’ll be in soon. Do you understand?”
She nodded, still unable to speak.
“Go inside now.”
She turned and walked into the house and went straight to the bathroom. She stripped off her clothes and threw them into the trashcan then switched on the shower, the water as hot as she could stand it.
* * *
Marcus walked into the house and locked the door. She was still in the shower, he could hear the water running. He went into the bathroom and opened the shower door, startling her. Without a word, he stepped into the stall with her. She started to speak but when he lifted her and pressed her against the wall, she only gasped, her eyes roving over the red and pink water as it washed the blood from him. He didn’t care about that though. Supporting her between the wall and himself, he covered her mouth with his. Pushing her head against the wall, he thrust his cock deep inside her pussy in one hard motion. She gasped into his mouth but didn’t resist when he pulled out and did it again, his kiss still pushing her head to the wall, his body holding hers against the hard tile at her back. He didn’t wait for her to come, that wasn’t the intention of this fucking. He opened his eyes to watch her instead as he thrust three more times, the last the hardest of all, until he stilled, orgasm making him groan a wild groan while his cock pumped its release.
He set her on her feet but with a hand at her jaw, he kept her at the wall. He looked at her there for a while as water poured over both of them. “If I hadn’t come in time, they would have taken you,” he said.
She put her hands to his face, her fingertips touching his lips, his cheeks, but she still did not speak. He reached his mouth to hers and kissed her once before resting his forehead against the wall beside her face, their cheeks touching.
“I love you, Rachel,” he said, his hold on her softer now.
She turned her face to his and kissed his cheek, touching him, forcing him to turn, to look at her. His eyes felt hot and he cradled the back of her head in his big hand. She kissed him, a soft kiss. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
He reached behind her to switch off the water, then opened the door. Grabbing two towels, he wrapped her in one first, then dried his hair with the other.
“Don’t bother getting dressed,” he said. “Just dry off so you’re not cold.”
She had just been patting herself dry but stopped to look at him, understanding what was coming. “You’re going to spank me, aren’t you?” she asked.
He nodded once.
“But…”
“There’s a reason I told you to stay in the house. They had been waiting in their car and spotted you or your car when you went to the grocery store. I just happened to have seen you when you left the house—I was just getting back—and so I followed you. I can’t trust you to do as I say, Rachel. What if the next time I’m not in time?”
She opened her mouth to speak but he held up a hand.
“I want to make sure there isn’t a next time. Today is going to do that. Go into the bedroom and get ready for me. I want you bent over the foot of the bed, waiting.”
“But, Marcus,” she tried again.
“But nothing, Rachel,” he said, his tone making sure she knew it was final. “Tell me something, were you supposed to leave the house?”
She shook her head, looking guilty as her gaze swept the floor.
“And what did we talk about during your last spanking? What was that about?”
She glanced at him but turned her gaze back down. “I needed to do as you said.”
“Do you understand the seriousness of our situation Rachel?”
She nodded and a huge tear fell to the bathroom floor. “I do,” she said, looking up at him. “I just don’t want to be spanked.”
He smiled and turned her, stripping the towel from her and walking her into the bedroom. “And that is exactly why you are going to be. It will teach you to obey in a way words can’t.” He stood her by the foot of the bed. “Bend over. Legs at shoulder width,” he said, standing back to watch.
She swallowed and turned to fac
e the headboard, then bent forward, her stomach in knots but her pussy oddly aroused by the act. She leaned forward onto her hands.
“Good. Now down on your elbows and hollow out your back.”
“Yes, sir,” she said.
He smiled at that. In a way, it was her acceptance of his role as well as her own. He stood back, looking at her presented as she was, her legs spread, her round, pale ass cheeks waiting, her pussy pink and glistening, and the tiny bud of her asshole just visible. He was hard again but forced himself to pick up his jeans. He pulled them on and tugged the belt out of its loops loud enough that she had to turn around, her eyes wide as she registered what implement would be used to punish her. He held her gaze and doubled the belt over, laying it across her low back.
“Face forward and think about why you’re being punished while you wait for me,” he said, waiting until she turned to face away from him, glancing once more at her ass. It took all he had to walk out of the room.
* * *
Rachel didn’t know how much time had passed. She lay her head down on the bed, anxiety building, the weight of the belt Marcus had laid across her back seeming heavier. The silence that filled the space around her felt dense, the only sounds coming from the kitchen those of coffee brewing, of Marcus’ footfalls on the floor, his feet bare and their sound soft. She imagined the sight she made and even as embarrassment made her face warm into a deep blush, arousal tickled another part of her and she felt the swelling of her pussy, the moisture collecting between her legs, wetting her thighs. Then she would remember the belt and her bottom would clench in anticipation. This was going to hurt.
Rachel turned to peek behind her when she heard Marcus’s voice. “Hey Kayla, it’s me.”
There was silence while Kayla spoke on the other end of the line.
“Yes, okay. Listen, I need to talk to Elijah as soon as possible. Have him call me. That’s fine. All right, good bye, Kayla.”
Rachel quickly turned back to face the headboard when his footfalls signaled his approach. She heard him set something down on the dresser but didn’t know what it was.
He came to sit on the bed beside her. He brushed her hair off her face and caressed her back while she looked up at him.
“I don’t want the belt,” was all she could say.
“I imagine you don’t,” he said, rubbing her back. “What happened today—I can’t overlook it. You know that, I think.”
She looked away for a moment, then nodded. She did know that.
“Take your spanking now and learn from it, don’t make me do this again.”
“You don’t have to do it now,” she said, her eyes pleading with him. “I understand. I do.”
He patted her head and stood. “This punishment will only solidify that understanding.”
She rubbed her face with her hands.
He lifted the belt off her back. She glanced back to watch him fold it over in his hand, keeping the buckle in his palm.
“Marcus, I’m sorry. I promise to listen better next time.”
He looked at her, his expression torn. He sat back down and lifted her so she stood facing him as he held onto her arms, rubbing them. “I didn’t think I would survive those years in captivity. I’m not even sure I wanted to,” he said, his eyes darkening a little at the memory. “I watched them slowly kill my brother—every day, just a little more was stolen from him. From us. The men that did this, they deserve to die, every one of them. But I didn’t want to be the one to do it. In the last year, I shifted exactly once. It was too much, I didn’t want it anymore. I realize now, however, that this is who I am. It’s a part of me. Of us. I’m not willing to lose you again. I plan on spending the rest of our lives together and that timeframe—well, I’m not willing to shorten it or give up even one day of it.”
She nodded, a tear sliding down her cheek that he caught and wiped away.
“You leaving the house… They found you because of it. My name can’t be traced here, the house belongs to an old woman. If I hadn’t come back in time, they would have taken you. We wouldn’t be standing here together. A part of me just wants to take you and run, but we can’t do that to Elijah, to Kayla and the baby. We have to stay and fight. But I need to keep you safe and in order to do that, you have got to do as I say. I know you didn’t think it was a big deal to run to the store, but that small thing led to three men dying. Three men who would have done terrible things to you, to us, but three men I had to kill. I need you to understand the weight of this. It’s not a game. We’re not on vacation. We’re not a normal couple. You and I, we’re in trouble right now and we’re going to get out of it, but for now, I need to know for sure what happened is not going to happen again. That’s why I’m going to punish you hard today, do you understand?”
Tears streamed down her face and she nodded.
He stood. “Bend over, elbows on the bed.”
Rachel slowly bent forward, laying her elbows on the bed. She looked over her shoulder at him.
He stepped to the side of her, gripping the belt in one hand, the length of it resting against his leg. “Face forward, let’s get this done.”
Her heart raced and she spared one last glance at the belt before turning forward.
The flat of his hand was on her low back as she settled back onto her elbows. It was a light pressure but she knew it was just a reminder for her to remain as she was throughout her punishment.
The first crack of the belt across her bottom made her gasp. The sound, the pain that followed then intensified, had her squeezing her bottom together. The second one landed just as she began to rise up, her hands flying back to cover herself.
“Ah!” she called out with the next one as he caught her hands in one of his and pushed her back down onto the bed.
“Stay, Rachel,” he warned, lashing her three more times in quick succession.
“Marcus! It burns!”
He held her down and continued to punish her as she called out with each blow. The belt stung, her bottom was on fire, and the strokes just kept coming.
“Please just slow down! Please!”
Her entire body felt hot now and her ass was on fire when he moved the belt lower, targeting the crease between her bottom and her legs, marking the tops of her thighs.
“Legs wider and stop clenching,” he said, switching to the other side of her.
He released her and she covered her bottom with her hands, trying to knead out the pain. She was crying and began to rise again when he put a hand at her low back, applying just enough pressure to let her know it wasn’t yet time for her to rise while rubbing gently at the same time.
He took her hands and brought them to either side of her, tucking them tight to her torso. “You’re about halfway, Rachel. You’re doing fine but I want you to keep your hands where they are. Can you do that for me?”
“It hurts!” she managed, tucking her arms tightly beneath her chest.
“I know it hurts, baby. You’re almost there. Good girl, keep your arms right there,” he said, bringing the belt down from the other side of her now.
“Owww!” she called out, crying, jumping up and down but managing somehow to keep her torso over the bed. She turned her face into the comforter and squeezed her eyes shut in anticipation of the next round.
“Tell me why you’re being punished,” he said, bringing the belt down three more times across her sit spots, the sound deafening in the room, drowned out only by her yelps. This hurt so much more than his hand had; her bottom felt raw and she wished it would just go numb. “Tell me, Rachel and it will be over,” he said.
He struck again, this time pausing between strikes, giving her a moment to recover.
“Because I disobeyed… ah!”
“Just after you had been spanked for exactly the same reason just a few nights ago,” he filled in. Two more strokes seared into her already burning flesh.
“Yes. Yes. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Please stop. I
promise to do what you say next time. Please, Marcus!”
“Five more. Count them.”
The pressure of his hand at her low back became more firm. The next stroke caught the backs of her thighs. She sucked in a breath and bent her knees, groaning. “One,” she managed. The next one struck just below the last, marking a little lower across her thighs. “Two.” She was squeezing her eyes and clenching her fists in anticipation when the next one caught her again on the backs of her legs. She mewled but called out the count: “Three.” She wished he would stop but knew she had two more to go.
“Straighten your legs.”
She did and glanced back to see him lift his arm. She didn’t watch it come down though. “Four!”
The last caught her at the crease between buttocks and thighs, the hardest one yet. “Five!” she called out, her knees buckling beneath her.
Marcus caught her before she fell, hugging her to him as she sobbed into his still bare chest. The belt hung from his hand, caressing her bottom, her thighs, and she pushed just a little tighter into his embrace.
“Shh, it’s over,” he said, finally dropping the belt to the floor and hugging her to him, cradling the back of her head, rubbing her back.
Her bottom seemed to throb with heat as she lifted her wet face to his. “I’m sorry,” she said, searching his face, finding his mouth, reaching to kiss him. “I’m sorry.”
He took her face in his hands and kissed her. The passion between them was like nothing she’d felt before. It was chemical, pure heat, and she found herself twining her fingers into his hair, pulling him to her. He held her, one hand gripping her bottom hard.
“Ouch,” she flinched as his fingers kneaded her tender, swollen flesh. She reached to unbutton his jeans, his cock hard through the thick material of the pants. She managed to free it, taking it in both her hands, kissing his neck and chest. She wanted to take his cock into her mouth, but he wouldn’t allow it.
“No,” he said, both hands now gripping her bottom, spreading her open. His fingers traveled to the cleft between her cheeks and one found her bottom hole. “I want this,” he said, the fingers of his other hand delving into her pussy, using her juices to lubricate her tighter passage.
Claimed by the Beast Page 14
